I First Started Playing Diablo in 2000

I first discovered the game in 2000, when I purchased it at a local Costco for a mere $9.99USD. At that time, I hadn’t played video games since I’d sold my Sega Genesis console about 5 years earlier. I was definitely not a “gamer” so to speak.

It was at this time that I’d had recently broke up with a girlfriend of a few years, was living alone, and had been looking for something to do with my free time other than closing down the bars. The irony here is, my ex’s older brother had been the founder and CEO of the largest video game distributor in the UK. While we were involved I had access to a plethora of software, but never once had the desire. Go figure.

At any rate, I installed Diablo, started playing and was hooked. It was as if it were the video game I had been waiting for all these years. As a kid, I always had an affinity for the role-playing adventure type games, but they were mostly text-based back then (yes, I’m that old… I owned a Commodore 64). Diablo offered the exciting hack and slash game play, as well as the engaging story and lore that I craved. It was incredible!

I rolled a Warrior and played incessantly during my free time until I completed the game. It took me about two weeks or so if I recall. Afterwards, I created a Rogue and finished it within about a week. Ranged DPS ftw! I never tried the Sorceror class, because casters have never really appealed to me all that much, and I ended up picking up D2 shortly after discovering the original Diablo.

I remember playing in the dark and being startled by almost every little sound, both in-game and out. Playing the first Diablo game was like watching an edge-of-your-seat horror film. Good times.

Even though the graphics and gameplay seem a bit primal by today’s standards, the Diablo series was always ahead of its time in my opinion.